MUSIC

Stuck at home in Palo Alto with two parents who teach in Stanford’s music department, Ezra Costanza created the drag character Obsidienne Obsurd, a genderless Chinese-American genderless drag musician with an exuberant wardrobe, makeup palette, and playlist. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

While next weekend’s classical programs are still scheduled, the orchestra’s Holiday Pops shows for the weekend before Christmas and its New Year’s Eve Gala have been called off. - San Antonio Current

Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, after Israel was allowed to compete. - BBC

A soloist was forced to carry her 1782 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin in her arms through the Helsinki airport security and onto a flight to Germany after Lufthansa refused to let her bring the case as hand luggage. - The Daily Beast

I cannot remember a time when there was so much political meddling in music and so little resistance. - The Critic

The conductor joined the company back in 1982 and helped build it into an impressive operation for a city of Sarasota’s size and a company known for having produced every opera Verdi wrote. When DeRenzi departs next May, general director Richard Russell will take on artistic leadership as well. - Observer (Sarasota)

Cellist András Fejér has been with the famed string quartet since its founding exactly 50 years ago. As of next September, Fejér will retire; replacing him will be Romanian-born cellist Mihai Marica. - Gramophone

During nearly two hours of argument, the court appeared to be leaning toward the internet companies – perhaps on narrow grounds. - CNN

Canada has been neglecting our (excellent and varied) music scene for the past decade. A post-pandemic evaluation of the government’s Canada Music Fund revealed that revenues are down: album sales fell by nearly 74 percent between 2015 and 2021. - The Walrus

A huge portion of the world’s recorded musical heritage is stored on magnetic tape, used regularly from the 1940s into the digital age to capture musicians’ sounds in the studio. But as analog tape ages, it grows more fragile and vulnerable. - The New York Times

The Australian composer won for her cello concerto A Sutured World, composed for Nicolas Altstaedt and co-commissioned by the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony, the Amsterdam Cello Biennale and the Casa da Música Porto in Portugal. - Limelight (Australia)

“What’s distinctive about the classical guitar is its simplicity. Ultimately, it’s basically a wooden box with strings attached and a fretted neck, a bridge, a saddle, and tuning pegs. Classical guitar has no inbuilt amplification, and the sounds are produced very directly.” - Aeon

Well, if not exorcised, at least accosted by crosses: “Thereminists appear to carve sound out of thin air, using their hands to prompt a distinct whir from its wooden, lectern-like body by manipulating the electromagnetic fields around its two antennae.” - The New York Times

“This year, the internet is uncharacteristically quiet during the period when Spotify Wrapped typically appears. The lack of anticipation comes ... as it faces backlash on such issues as artist compensation, AI-generated music and ICE recruitment ads.” - CBC

“Many of the performances on Friday focused on the fundamental strains of traditional country, bluegrass and gospel that helped shape what began as the WSM Barn Dance in 1925.” - The New York Times